London, UK, November 02, 2009 — POPSOP reaches a worldwide audience interested in package design and branding, offering a digest of the latest industry news and trends, as well as professional opinions, articles and interviews. It is a trusted source of information for anyone needing to stay abreast of the world of package design and branding and is a natural supporting partner for the Music Design Awards.

“There is still a huge market for packaging design linked to recorded music, though it is changing fast,” comments Marie Thomas, operations director for the MDA. “Branding, though, is becoming more and more important as musicians and music brands fight for recognition in an ever more fragmented and competitive music market place. The link with POPSOP extends our reach into Russia and eastern Europe very effectively, as well as reminding designers worldwide.”

The POPSOP site can be accessed at www.popsop.com or www.popsop.ru and the site is in both English and Russian.
POPSOP joins a growing band of supporters for the inaugural Music Design Awards including Eye the quarterly international review of graphic design and visual culture.

The Music Design Awards embrace designers from all markets, with seven continental region categories in which design teams can evidence excellence through the presentation of a body of their work in the region. Full information on the Awards can be found at www.MusicDesignAwards.com or you can contact the organizers at the address shown.

The extended closing date for entries gives designers and marketers – who learn about the Awards through the pages of POPSOP – enough time to prepare and submit their entries.

The Music Design Awards is one of a family of business celebration projects – including the Online Retail Awards (www.OnlineRetailAwards.com) where design also has a huge part to play in the success of internet retailing sites – run by a London-based team with over 300 awards’ projects to their credit.

Contact :
Marie Thomas
Music Design Awards
80 Great Portland Street
London W1W 7NW
+44 (0)20 8675 8405
marie.thomas@musicdesignawards.com
http://www.musicdesignawards.com

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The Algarve is a stunning holiday destination just a couple of hours flight from the UK and boasts one of the most beautiful coastlines on the Mediterranean. Long beaches and inviting turquoise blue water is an eternal draw for visitors, but the superior golf courses are also an attraction.

With Moorish and Renaissance influences, the architecture and culture in the Algarve is eclectic, beautiful and much of it ancient. With a range of holiday destinations from the traditional in Silves and Lagos, to complexes in Vilamoura and Albufeira there’s something for everyone to enjoy.

Holiday Supermarket have a range of deals available on hotels, flights and car hire so you can make the most of your holiday for the cheapest possible price. You could save even more by catching one of their last minute deals.

“The Algarve is a paradise and being so close to the UK is ideal for those who don’t like to travel far to find the sun,” says Trinity Brookes, Communications Manager at Holiday Supermarket. “You could catch a low-cost deal at Holiday Supermarket and be there tomorrow – why wait?”

For more information about Holiday Supermarket and their special Algarve deals, please visit: www.holidaysupermarket.com or call them on 0870 050 1980.

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Case Study 1:
£5m General Stores business, franchised company, with Owner MD and FD, six shops, extended over draft and breaching covenants with the bank. Their profits had fallen and sales where dwindling.
Business strategies were constructed and executed, give increased sales and profitability, costs were lowered and the P&L increased at EBITDA level by 15% over a nine month period. The bank loans where restructured and debt lowered giving a stronger balance sheet.

Case Study 2:
£15m Technology driven company, Owner MD with a strong online presence, having difficulty in managing the day to day operations in a factory environment which was not profitable.
A study of the factory operations was undertaken to ascertain the facts. A strategic plan was developed. After costs and ROI analysis the factory was closed and manufacturing of the same product began overseas enabling the company to make an extra £250k per annum in profit.

Geoff can be contacted directly at gw@copernicus-consulting.com

About Copernicus Consulting:
Copernicus was started in 1999 as a Manchester based International Business Consulting Service and Strategy Consultancy. Today it’s going beyond the boundaries and providing solutions to business entrepreneurs globally with offices spread across Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, Norway, Dubai, Finland, Turkey, Canada, Poland and China. From business start up to business sale, Import or Export, Copernicus can bring energy, drive, enthusiasm and practical common business sense to guide you and your business to success. For more information, please visit: http://www.copernicus-consulting.com

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Lancashire, UK, November 04, 2009 — Organising your special day can be stressful, with stationery being the last thing on your mind, but a personalised or handmade invitation can make a real difference.

Whatever your wedding style, the perfect invitations and stationery can be tailored to accent and reflect the nature of your ceremony.

Handmade cards allow for that extra personal touch and introduce the guest to the ambience of your day, but they don’t have to take up hours of your valuable time to organise.

Wedding invitations and stationery packs can be organised and ordered quickly and easily online.

Striving to match the bride and grooms wedding theme, specialist stationery companies offer products tailored to individual requirements. Wedding invitations and complete stationery ranges can be personalised to a couples needs, with designs available online in a wide range of colours and sizes

DIY kits are also an option, allowing you to hand make your stationery whilst holding onto that professional finish.

Many specialist companies offer a DIY service, which contains all you need to recreate the design of your choice by hand to a professional standard.

This time saving and innovative method takes the hard work out of making your own stationery whilst still being affordable.

Many wedding stationery companies have introduced new initiatives to help save hundreds of pounds on the cost of a wedding without impacting on the elegance of the occasion.

Clare Greaves, owner of Blissful Designs, said: “Blissful Designs has remained an online handmade stationery supplier for seven years because we are able to offer competitive prices due to lower overheads compared to retail stores”.

“We offer a range of handmade wedding stationery collections and a bespoke service for couples that wish to express their own style and individuality.”

“Recently, we have noticed that there is an increase in couples wishing to make their own wedding stationery. Due to this discovery, we have decided to increase our DIY range to make sure that there is a stationery design to suit every wedding budget.”

For more information on handmade and DIY wedding stationery and DIY chair cover hire please visit www.blissfuldesigns.co.uk

About Blissful Designs:
Blissful Designs are a handmade stationery supplier of the finest quality wedding invitations and stationery. The products are tailored to individual requirements and they strive to match the bride and grooms wedding theme. The wedding invitations and complete stationery ranges can be personalised to every brides needs. All the designs are available in a wide variety of colours and various sizes. In addition to providing their renowned stationery packs, Blissful Designs also offer a decorative chair cover hire service, balloon decoration and beautifully crafted guest books, photo albums and keepsake boxes.

Customer Enquiries:
Clare Greaves
Blissful Designs
sales@blissfuldesigns.co.uk
0845 122 8140

Press Contact:
Andrew Barton
Inspia Brands
Burnley, Lancashire UK
0800 756 1172
PR@inspia.co.uk
http://www.blissfuldesigns.co.uk

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Kirkcaldy, Fife, November 05, 2009 – EcoFurn is currently donating 10% of all proceeds to Tree Aid, a UK-based charity focused on improving forestry conditions in Africa. EcoFurn is an oak bed and cabinet manufacturer that is firmly dedicated to environmental awareness; consequently, the company seeks to increase sustainable practices throughout the globe. Currently, organizations funded by Tree Aid support environmental projects in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali and Ethiopia.

Tree Aid was established in 1987 with the goal of using sustainable approaches to improve communities in Africa’s drylands. Since that time, it has raised over five million pounds and assisted more than 300,000 people. Tree Aid works with governmental agencies and organizations, local community organizations as well as local, national and international non-governmental organizations. The charity fosters development of on-the-ground training in Africa to improve quality of life through forestry. Its vision is to ‘see thriving and self-reliant communities in Africa’s drylands.”

In many African villages, trees are crucial for people’s survival and needs. Planting and protecting trees has a positive impact on the environment and helps to alleviate poverty in these regions. The work fostered by Tree Aid includes helping villagers to plant and protect trees and better control natural resources. Villagers also benefit from local financial enterprises set up to profit from products made from trees, like shea nut butter, baobab flour and tamarind. Fruits from trees are an important local food source. Tatus Azure from the Community Nursery and Family Woodlots Project in Ghana stated, I have planted 150 cashew trees, 40 mangoes, 45 dawadawa trees, 35 cocoa trees and a couple of orange and calabash trees. Now I can feed my family. The money I earn from the extra fruits is enough to send my kids to school too.”

EcoFurn is dedicated to providing high quality oak furniture. The company’s dedication towards improving forestry conditions in the Sahel of Africa, through its partnership with Tree Aid, also make it a highly eco-friendly company. It should come as no surprise that EcoFurn uses a highly sustainable approach when it comes to its own beds. The “A” grade timber used in all furniture comes from well-managed plantations. Trees on these plantations are cut and replanted every 15 years. It is EcoFurn’s commitment to the environment as well as to quality that makes this company a popular choice for oak beds and cabinets.

About Eco Furn:
Ecofurn is a bed manufacturer specializing in oak beds. The company donates 10% of all profits to TreeAid to encourage sustainable local practices in Africa. More information about EcoFurn and its commitment to Tree Aid can be found at http://oakbed.org.uk/eco-friendly-beds/

Contact :
Lee Ritchie
Ecofurn
Kirkcaldy, Fife KY25HS
01592565625
sales@pinebed.org.uk
http://oakbed.org.uk

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Ivybridge, Devon, November 05, 2009 — Luminati Waycon Ltd, which manufacture all their products from its base in Devon produce a range of stylish acrylic and perspex display units and furniture for home, office and retail use. Luminati Waycon reports an increase in manufacturing output of 10% in the second quarter of this year compared to a decrease in national output of 0.2 % during the same period.

Established in 1983 Luminati Waycon moved to premises near Ivybridge just over five years ago and in that time the business has more than doubled its turnover to £1.9 million. The acrylic manufacturer is now all set to achieve an increase in turnover this year by 17% despite the tough trading conditions. The encouraging news is thanks to a buoyant export market and growing UK market for its products.

Steve Senior, director of Luminati explains, “We are looking at growing export sales by 60% this year. The exchange rate has been favourable but we are also concentrating on developing innovative new products for specific market segments. Combine this with further investment in production technology earlier this year and the business is performing to plan.”

Luminati Waycon produce industrial and lifestyle products from; display cabinets and newspaper stands to top quality desk top and lounge room furniture. The broad product range has obviously been beneficial during the economic crisis, but Luminati has been busy securing new markets for their products and developing new product ranges. One new burgeoning market for Luminati this year has been established within the car show rooms despite the state of the car industry.

Steve Senior continues “We are supplying bespoke display units to three of the worlds” top 20 car manufacturers and to one F1 race team. Some of these orders have been within the UK and increasingly in Europe.

Despite a bulging order book, Luminati tries hard not to source manufactured goods from the Far East ” focusing instead on manufacturing ethically in the UK. “We employ 30 people and the community which we live and work in is important to us. We want to be manufacturing here.” says Steve Senior. “We source the majority of our supplies and raw materials locally from ethical suppliers with just 10 percent of raw materials originating from outside of Europe”.

To celebrate this fact the business has just launched a “proudly made in the UK” logo which now appears on all their products.

Steve Senior explains: “We have built the company up based on quality standards combined with a highly skilled workforce. We offer innovative design and products of exceptional quality and bespoke to our customer’s requirements. Our niche is concentrating on shorter production runs. I believe British manufacturers, particularly SME’s, are creative, flexible and reactive to suppliers needs and now, more than ever, it’s important to support them. The UK economy needs to focus on exporting goods to strengthen the economy and reduce importing products by sourcing materials locally.”

The current financial situation forced Luminati to look at manufacturing processes to reduce costs and increase productivity. Meanwhile they have increased expenditure on specific marketing disciplines and market research into new potential markets. A delegation to the Middle East is planned for November and just like the diamond polish finish on many of their products the future is looking bright.

For further information visit: http://www.luminati.co.uk

Notes to Editors

Luminati Waycon Limited, Lower Unit 1, Redlake Industrial Estate, Bittaford, Ivybridge, Devon, PL21 0EZ

Luminati Waycon Ltd, is a leading manufacturer of acrylic and perspex display units and furniture based in Ivybridge, Devon. All Luminati products are proudly manufactured with care in the UK.

Luminati is committed to reducing its carbon footprint to help protect the environment and provide a legacy for future generations. Raw materials are sourced from ethical producers with just 10% of raw materials originating from outside Europe.

Luminati Waycon Ltd strives to offer unique solutions that are designed and engineered to fit any individual requirement and are manufactured in the UK. They are committed to the environment and to support the community around them.

Contact:
Steve Senior
Luminati Waycon Limited
Lower Unit 1
Redlake Industrial Estate
Ivybridge
Devon PL21 0EZ
01752 698116
steve@luminati.co.uk
http://www.luminati.co.uk

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Manchester, UK, November 10, 2009 — When Greengages were approached by the UK’s largest business networking organisation, 4Networking to supply the food at one of their networking meetings they couldn’t help but to deliver a meal that nobody was going to forget.

Matt Timms from event caterers Greengages explains: “4Networking asked us for to put on a breakfast and lunch menu to impress local businesses attending one of their meetings. We answered by supplying fresh baked dry cure bacon rolls for breakfast. Then we decided to get people talking by serving the hot food in bonne maman jam jars with our own labels on. They loved it!”

Greengages isn’t your usual outside catering company. For a start they operate out of a converted pea green retro Morgan Olson van, custom built and imported from the US. They also have a strict carbon footprint policy which see’s them trying to operate with the environment in mind at all times. The Morgan Olson is due for an LPG conversion and they are planning to buy an electrical vehicle to pick up supplies.

Greengages mobile caterers makes a point of standing out from their competitors and feedback at the 4Networking and other events shows that not only are people enjoying the food but are surprised by what and how they are being served.

The company recently helped support the 50th anniversary of Volkswagen by touring the North West dealerships in the Morgan Olson and dishing out their infamous fresh baked bacon rolls and fish and chip served in funky newspaper cones.

Later this month Greengages is off to Belgium supporting a corporate team building event and will be serving some fine Belgium delicacies including snails and buffalo. They plan to source all their ingredients in Belgium from local suppliers as befits their green ethos.

To find out more about outside caterers Greengages visit http://www.gogreengages.com

Press Contact:
Andy Maclean
Open Eye Marketing
PO Box 84. Ivybridge
Devon PL21 9WS
0800 2984313
andymaclean@openeyemarketing.co.uk
http://www.openeyemarketing.co.uk

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The lunchtime programme recently broadcast a feature on the effect of the credit crunch on the diamond industry, inviting a panel of leading names in the sector to partake in the discussion, one of which was Carol Marlow, on behalf Marlows Certified Diamonds.

Joining the discussion were some of the most recognised players in the diamond market including Harry Levy, one of the UK’s most eminent diamond dealers, and Michael Rappaport, the creator of the globally recognised diamond price list, who participated in the show live from New York.

“My family has been trading in diamonds in Birmingham for over three generations, and we have a superb reputation in the Midlands region, but this has taken our standing to a whole new level,” says Carol Marlow of Marlows Certified Diamonds. “It was an honour to be asked to participate and it was a proud moment in the company’s history, as our reputation and experience as a prestigious diamond dealer was recognised on a national platform.”

To find out more about Marlows and their wide range of certified diamonds, please visit www.marlowscertifieddiamonds.co.uk or call 0121 236 4415.

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Newcastle, UK, November 18, 2009 — A new study suggests that Vitamin D contributes to a strong and healthy heart and that inadequate levels of the vitamin may significantly increase a person’s risk of stroke, heart disease, and death, even among people who’ve never had heart disease.

The researchers followed up 27,686 patients who were 50 years of age or older, with no prior history of cardiovascular disease. These patients had their blood vitamin D levels tested during routine clinical care. They were then divided into 3 groups based on their Vitamin D levels i.e. normal, low, or very low. The patients were then followed up to see if they developed some form of heart disease.

The researchers found that patients with very low levels of vitamin D were 77 percent more likely to die, 45 percent more likely to develop coronary artery disease, and 78 percent were more likely to have a stroke, than patients with normal levels. Patients with very low levels of vitamin D were also twice as likely to develop heart failure compared to those with normal vitamin D levels.

According to one of the researchers:

“We concluded that among patients 50 years of age or older, even a moderate deficiency of vitamin D levels was associated with developing coronary artery disease, heart failure, stroke, and death.”

“This is important because vitamin D deficiency is easily treated. If increasing levels of vitamin D can decrease some risk associated with these cardiovascular diseases, it could have a significant public health impact.” Solgar Vitamin D3 1000iu softgels £6.75 – Visit www.solgar.co.uk

Press Contact:
Keith Woolley
Boots Herbal Stores
5 Castle Walk
Newcastle, Staffs
ST5 1AN UK
+44 1782 617463
keith.woolley@btinternet.com
http://www.solgar.co.uk/product/solgar-vitamin-d3-softgels-1000iu-100-caps-E3340.html?catid=3

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Birmingham, UK, November 11, 2009 — The award winning restaurant Côte will be offering award winning French Cuisine and has grabbed the last available restaurant space at The Mailbox complex in Birmingham.

The restaurant announced the move just after new retailers All Saints, a fashion label, and stationers Papeterie have become the latest additions to the retail and lifestyle complex in the heart of the city. French restaurant Côte appears so confident about the trading conditions at The Mailbox that it has taken a 25 year lease and will open next spring. All Saints has taken a 15 year lease.

The Mailbox will be very glad of the new occupants as the last 12 months has seen the gift and stationary shop Parchment close and the womens dress shop Emma Somerset unfortunately go into administration at the complex. Birmingham residents will also be pleased as the Côte chain of restaurants was voted the years best value restaurants bu the Good Food Guide 2009.

The Mailbox is known for having some of the most popular restaurants in Birmingham, offering a huge diversity of choice from Indian to Tapas and Thai.

For further information about the choice of Mailbox restaurants in Birmingham visit http://www.mailboxlife.com/restaurants.asp

Contact:
Andy Maclean
The Mailbox
Wharfside Street
Birmingham B1 1XL
0121 632 1000
andy@realityhouse.co.uk
http://www.mailboxlife.com

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